Arch-supporter.



J. P. THOMAS. ARCH SUPPORTER. NPPLIJATION FILiBD JUNEG,1912.

lOI-N P.' THOMAS, F CHICAGO, ILLXNXE.

ARCHLSUPPRTEE.

To aZww/m t mai/ concern Be it known that I, JOHN P. THOMAS, n citizen of the UnitedStates, .residingnt Chi- Gago, inthe county of Cook ondvtnte oil Illinois, have invented Certain-Nev.' und use ful. improvements in relbupporiere, of which the following is a Specification.

This inventionirelates to improvements in arch supporters, and: refers more parlionlarly to improvements in remomlile :weh Supporters intended lo be fitted Within previously 'or Sepero rely' made shoes.

.The salientl obieet ofthe presentinvention is theiusuzil onel aimed et in devices or' this ohm-actor, viz: to provide un :ir-eli. snpporler which will so Support the instep or -erchliiiortion of the foot of the wearer, es-

pecially one whose feet have: beeomev deformed or, ne it is commonly celled,- broken flown, that he will loe afforded reliei'end his foot, comfortably. supported in, or approximately in, its natural or normal position.

lem aware that the prior art shows many 'exemples of varch supporters, and Severnlof these eppeer'upon'cursoryy examination to be quite closely analogous to theerch supporter omy present invention. However, es will appear fromlthe following description, my firehf'supporter l,eonetmeted 'to embody e different principle of` operation frornithoee heretofore devised, so ierimy presenlzknowledge goes, and in practice hns provedV highly sueeesefnl and to he eonstrueted. inaccordance with correct end sound principles, .so 'that it not only Mierde immediate lout also -perrnenentfrelie-f and the wearer is not; compelled to endure e7 more or leesl extended periedof breelingdn die comfort.'

ont invention, I loeweproiweedeol-Y upon the thleory or understanding, than' euehy e device in, vorder Vte loef et the Sametime: comfortable and' eilieient must be -sof constructed fas-.to aecemmodete itselfvery exactly. to the irregu lertiee of the-feot-oitlife wearer; :must poeI seem ai certain f amount of, perm:nientA resilieiieyfy orr'ouehioning fchirecteristies muet: he Orff einen Shape@ ee ite. heltlrielneet and' Mined Specification of Lettersatent;

Applicationled June 6, 1912.

4 useful not-only as preventingbreaking;down

lli vernield Nov., 13, serial N0. 701,986.

greatest support.throughout the of the arch, and :there :ill muet he se n.-

ized ne to exercise ilsveorreolive ellieels nelly, so that the foot-of the .veozer me reetored to its correct or normal shape liy. eueeessive etages .find so gradually are to loe eoeoniplislied Without', nein und fliecomfort; ln this respeot the arch of: my preeent i.nv

vention follows the same principle :is the@ .natur-e; that is, 'lo be beneficially Worn noi;

,l ley persons already suffering from' breaking down o' the arch, but also vby perF sons who mey'exhibit e tendency' Ain that only direction. ln tliis=ehareolen the devia..

ofthe arelr with itsA concomitant. evils, but also in preventing the formation of corne mdcellons :parte the-heel and hall orn4 lhe foot, es well. esrretoringl; and maintaining.;

normal.. bl ood voire ill ation. f

Describing, new, the device shown in the drawing,V which showethe, preferred. einbodiment, lndesignetes ne e, whole the fome detionleyer. or piece, which consiste1 of f1, piece of rm.smooth leether.,.intermediate inpliebilityend stiness. between ordinary sole vleather and ordinary shoe-upper leather, having its margine" shepedo outline o, heel portion-1" formed to eubstentieilyditf the heel areeofe elnfoe. ofi that sizeifor which it isfintended,I the front' end portionx l. wide enough to substantially, occupy, the soie aree across the bali orf Widest perl; of the ehoe, and,- an, outwrdly: curved portion 1" be tweentiie. heel and front nortione and at the inner, side oitlieereli, lormineg when in noeitiofo. in the. shoe uptnrned ivin'gflike arch support.- The merg-5in l* ofthemem her,V il., iseurvecliinwerd slightly and is. intemledloconorm to tlieinternel shape of middle perl.-

margin of the largest piece Qto the center of and are clenched upon the latter, as

the shoe; that part of the arch'supporter being intended to rest dat, or substantiallyv of said member' l are arranged a plurality pflayers of soft pliable leather, or othervsuitable material, of successively smaller area, and of such outline as to approximately conform to the outline of the main or foundation piece l. Thesel successive layers, designated 2, 3, and 4in the drawing, desirably have their marginal portions skived thin so as to produce a padl increasing inthickness with substantial uniformity from the outer the smaller piece il, and the several layers are secured'together and to the foundation member 1 by any suitable impaling means which engages the central portions of said members only. f Preferablyl employ a split rivet 5, the head of whichy isvery thin, smooth and the two shanks of which extend through the superposed portions of leather shown clearly in Fig. 3.

The members of the support thus far l described form a pad-like structure possessingconsiderable pila-bility but comparatively littled resilience or cushioning qualities. To impart to the device as a whole a pronounced cushioning quality, I superpose upon the built-up leather pad a covering of substantial thickness of some permanently elastic fabricated material which will retain its structure permanently, such for example as wool felt or flannel. Preferably the covering is composed of a plurality of layers so that the central portion may be made thickest and the margins uniformly thinner. To this end/5 in the construction shown, I provide'a plurality of layers of felt or flannel, designated 6, 7 and 8, and since the member 6 will lie next to the outer leather covering, I prefer to make this member oli substan 'tia ly the full area of the pad and the underneath layers, as 7 and 8, of graduated smaller area, as shown. Outside of the comosite pad thus builtup of leather and cushioning material I-apply a covering 9 of ve softleather, as for example sheepskin, whic i is shaped to conform to the marginal outline of the foundation piece .l (except that it is shorter atthe forward end, as indicated), and` the leather covering 9 and the foundation piece l are stitched together by a marginal seam l0, asl shown clearly-in the dra-wlng. The front end of the foundation -piece l outside of or beyond the corresponding margin of the pad proper is pret'erably -sltived to a thin edge, as indicated clearly at il Fig. 4,' sothat there willfbeno abrupt ridge or shoulder' between the forwardend ofthe and the sole of the shoe. The

layers 6, 7 and S are entirely free from positive connection with each other and with the various other layers and the member l and cover 9 and free to expand, contract and shift locally to adapt the supporter to the contour of the foot. Without such soft layers the supportermight not fully conform with the contour of the foot and might exert uncomfortable local pressures, but the soft felt-like layers will yield and shift under such local pressures on the upper part of the structure and will thus eliminate such local pressures against the foot.

lt will be noted that in the device of my invention thecushioning eilect is extended into the heel portion of the support, and is not limited to the instep portion alone, as is usually the casein articles of this character. 1While Ihave herein described a preferred embodiment of the invention which l have foundextremely successful and satisfactory in use, it will nevertheless' be obvious that some variation may be made in the details of i construction without departing from the invention.

l claim as my invention:

l. A removable arch supporter, compris; ing a composite cushion comprising a foun- (lation-piece of firm smooth leather intermediaten liability and stiffness between ordinary so e leather andl ordinary shoeupper leather, having a heel portion formed to substantially fit the heel area of a shoe, a front end portion Vwide enough to subst-afntially occupy the sole area across the ball or widest part of the shoe, an outwardly curved portion between the heel and front portions and'at theinnerI side of the arch, forming when in position -in the shoe an upturne .l

wing-like arch support, a plurality of layers of softer and more flexible material of successively smaller areas below thelirst mentionedlayer and united therewith by impal.-

ing means portions only of the several layers, soft permanently elastic cushioning material below 'said previously described layers, and a covering of very soft leather having its margins joined in themargins of the main layer and `fully inclosing the other'layers.

A2. In a removable arch supporter, the combination with a composite pad comprising a foundation piece of firm smooth leatherhaving a heel portion formed to substantially t the heel area of,l a shoe, a frontl end portion' wide venough to. substantially occupy the' sole area acrossthe ball of the extending through the central shoe, an outwardly and upwardly curved ortion between the heel and front portions and at the inner side of the arch, a plurality of layers ofthinner and more iexible leather dation'piece and umted thereto by; means, extending through the central portions lonly ol'l successively smaller area below said founof the several layers, of a ifilurality of permanently elastic layersV of annel-like material below-said previously described layers,

and a covering of very soft leather having- 5 itsl margins joined to the margins of the foundation piece to fully inclose the other layers, said permanently elastic layers being free from positive connection With each other and with the other layers and the cov.

ering and thus free to expand and contract 10 and to shift locally to adapt the supporter to the foot.

. JOHN P. THOMAS. Witnesses:

ALBERT H. GRAVES,

MILIE ROSE. 

